The Surien Series Blood Guardian (2 page)

As she sat at a table on the balcony outside on the second floor of her favorite cafe patiently waiting for Kassaundra to arrive for their weekly lunch date, Symarah couldn’t stop thinking about the nightmare from the night before. Kass was late as usual so she had plenty of time for her mind to wander. Normally she spent this extra time looking out over the balcony onto the hustle and bustle of tourists invading St. Armand Circle, but today she barely noticed them. She couldn’t shake the feeling that she was in grave danger. She knew that none of it was real. She knew it was all just a figment of her overactive and somewhat twisted imagination, but that didn’t make her sense of impending doom go away. The nightmare kept playing over and over in her mind like a horror movie. She recalled every detail vividly as if it were real.  She could see his thin, pale face, those black eyes glaring at her with such deadly hatred. She felt his long bony fingers tightening around her throat, her panic rising as she struggled for air. She felt his breath on her neck as his sharp fangs ripped through her flesh, felt herself weakening with every drop of blood he drained. She could feel her life slipping away and she was helpless to do anything to stop it. No matter how many times she told herself that it was all just a bad dream, she couldn’t shake the feeling that Vaiden was very real and that he was after her.

“Hey, sorry I’m late,” Kassaundra said as she seated herself at the table across from Symarah. “You look exhausted, are you sleeping all right?” she said as she reached for a menu.

“No, I’ve been having nightmares,” Symarah groused; “well, just the one actually.”

“You’ve been dreaming about vampires every night for how long now, what could be scarier than that?” Kassie teased.

“This is different Kassie, Dane is a good vampire you know that.”

“So what’s this nightmare about then?”

“It’s about a monster named Vaiden, who is definitely not a good vampire. He just seems so real.”

“Well, you look pretty spooked Sym, what is it about this guy that freaks you out so much?”

“Well, he kills me for one thing,” Symarah said, a little too loudly. She smiled politely at the lady staring at her from the next table. She leaned closer to her oldest friend. “He drains every last drop of my blood and rips my throat out,” she whispered.

“Can we help you?” Kassie said to the rude woman who was still staring. Symarah suppressed a chuckle as she shook her head. Kassie always could lighten her mood and make her laugh.

“Why don’t you just take off the necklace Sym?”

“Oh please, don’t start that again,” Symarah complained. “The necklace has nothing to do with my dreams or the nightmare.”

Kassaundra couldn’t understand how her friend could be so clueless about this. I mean it seemed fairly obvious to her that it was the necklace that was causing these dreams. The dreams started the same day that she bought the necklace. It all seemed harmless enough and kind of cool really. Kassie had often wished she was the one having the dreams but now she wasn’t so sure. She knew the dreams were not real of course but this new nightmare seemed to be taking its toll on her friend.

“How can you be so damn skeptical; you write vampire novels for God’s sake?”

“Yes, and they’re sold in the fiction section because they are fiction, as in not real, and neither is this ridiculous theory of yours Kass.”

“Then how do you explain the fact that these dreams started the exact same day you got the necklace?”

“It’s called coincidence Kassie dear.”

“There is no such thing as coincidence Symmie dear.”

Kassie was the only one who knew about Symarah’s dreams. They had been best friends since the sixth grade. It was strange how they could be so much alike in some ways and so different in others. Kassie stood five feet, nine inches tall, deeply tanned complexion, with curly long blonde hair and green eyes, whereas Symarah was only five feet, three inches, with black hair, eyes as blue as the ocean, and skin so fair it would put Snow White to shame. Their lives had turned out just as different as their appearances. While Symarah finished high school two years early and worked her way through college, graduating with a masters in teaching, Kassaundra graduated a year late and went from one crappy low-paying job to another until she saved up enough money to open her own shop, selling magic supplies, candles, jewelry, clothing, and books on anything from witchcraft to vampires to ESP.  Their lives became even more different when Symarah started writing her books and then got the movie deal and moved out of Kassie’s apartment above the magic shop and into her own private beach house. Kassie missed Symarah living with her but she was still really happy for her friend. Their lives may have turned out different but the one thing they did have in common was a wickedly sarcastic sense of humor.

“Look Sym, if you’re so sure I’m wrong then prove it. Take the necklace off for one night and if your dreams still look like an Anne Rice novel then I’ll admit I was wrong and I’ll shut up about it. What have you got to lose?”

Dane, that’s what I have to lose, Symarah thought to herself. The thought of no longer seeing him, even if only in her dreams, made her feel sad, like she would miss him. That’s ridiculous, you can’t miss someone who doesn’t exist she told herself. “You might be right Kass, I should try it for a night. Who knows, maybe I’ll actually get a decent night's rest for a change.”

“I’m sorry, did I hear you correctly; did you just say I’m right?”

“Yeah, well there’s a first time for everything,” Symarah teased.

“Let me just mark it down on the calendar - Symarah stubborn-ass Stratford admits she’s wrong,” Kass said jokingly as she pretended to pull up the calendar on her cell phone.

“Hey, I never said I was wrong, I just said you MIGHT be right.”

“Well, being right makes me hungry so let’s order before I starve to death.”

“Everything makes you hungry; I swear you eat enough for ten people, it’s a wonder you don’t weigh 800 pounds by now,” Sym said as they perused the menu.

CHAPTER 2

As Symarah seated herself in the back of the limo and settled in for the nearly thirty-minute ride home, she couldn’t help but be proud of herself. The launch party was amazing. It was for her new book, the third in the Guardian series. She wasn’t really the party type but after the week she’d had it was good to forget about everything for a while and just have fun. She was especially grateful to her publishing company, not only for the limo, but for her personal driver as well. When they started providing this new service about a year ago, it made her a bit nervous, but when she realized that they were sending the same driver every time, she was actually relieved. Not much of a drinker, she had a tendency to become very tipsy on a very small amount of alcohol. Unfortunately for Symarah, it was impossible to get through a launch party without at least one glass of champagne, three if it’s being held in your honor, which was two more than she could handle. Needless to say, she was a little drunk; still, it was nice to be able to relax and not worry about the disturbing turn her dreams had taken. So much for Kassie’s theory, she thought to herself. She had taken her friends advice and stopped wearing the necklace. She had sent it in to be cleaned and to have them reinforce the settings on the stone. Even without the necklace on she still had the same dream every night, for a week now. It always started out normal, a dream about Dane hunting down some evil vampire, but then it always turned into the nightmare of Vaiden killing her. She refused to think about that right now. She chose to think about Dane instead, trying hard to picture him in her mind. God, why couldn’t she find a guy like that in real life; handsome, strong, and a good protector with a great sense of humor and very intelligent. Because there are no real men like that, she told
herself, men like that only exist in our dreams. She spent the remainder of the ride home daydreaming about Dane and what it would be like to be with him. As the limo pulled up to her beautiful beach house at the end of a very long driveway, Symarah let out a happy sigh. She was glad to be home. The driver helped her out of the car and walked her to her door. Once inside she headed straight for her master bathroom. All she could think of was getting out of those uncomfortable clothes and slipping into a hot bubble bath. Her master bath was a work of art, one of her own design.  As she entered the bathroom she faced a large wall with a glass-enclosed shower and a small archway on either side. The sink and vanity were to her right and on her left, a door leading to a small room that hid the toilet. She walked through one of the archways, both of which led to the same room. On the other side of the wall with the shower was an oversized spa tub. At the top of the wall was a thin strip of silver about three feet across where the bath water came out. There was a touchpad control panel on the side. She set the water temperature and pressed the on button. The water filled a long narrow box set with decorative stones and overflowed into smaller boxes below. Once the smaller boxes filled with water they overflowed into one long box three feet in length and then that overflowed, creating a waterfall effect, with the water then filling the bathtub. This waterfall could be turned off when the tub was full or it could be set to drain the excess water so that the waterfall could stay on for the duration of her bath. There was a gentle curve to this end of the tub so that when she sat down in her bath she could lean back and the waterfall would cascade onto her shoulders. Symarah lit the candles, shut off the light, stripped off the offending clothing and sank into the tub. She added some Cotton Blossom scented bubble bath and leaned back into the waterfall.  Across from her was a wall made entirely of glass and through that glass wall you could see the ocean. Since she was on the third floor and her property was very large and very secluded, she didn’t have to worry about anyone seeing her. She stared out at the night sky. The moon and stars reflected on the water. She had always been drawn to the ocean, it called to her. There was no place she’d rather be right now. This was her idea of heaven.

As he approached Symarah Stratford’s front gate, Daire admired the massive estate. It looked to him like a modern-day castle, much like the one he had purchased in Spain centuries ago. The gate itself was black and resembled a large wall of ivy with black vines winding back and forth. He waved his hand in front of the gate and it opened and then closed behind him as he strode off toward the back of the house. He searched the house with his powers and quickly found her on the third floor standing on the balcony of the master bedroom. She was staring out at the ocean, admiring the beauty of the stars in the night sky reflecting in the surface of the water. He could see everything through her eyes, another perk of being an Atlantean god. The view from her balcony was truly breathtaking. She could see the ocean but her view of the beach was obstructed by the massive Live Oak trees that covered her property. Unlike the palm trees usually associated with this region, the Live Oak trees were large with thick twisting branches that spread out into a canopy of dark green leaves. Spanish moss hung from the branches of these sprawling trees, giving off an eerie haunted vibe. Daire stood at the base of one of the ghostly trees and watched Symarah. He didn’t have a good view of her but at least he would know if she was headed in his direction. From here he could safely search her mind, read her thoughts, and plant thoughts in her mind as well, and all without her even knowing he was there. Yes, this was the safest way to find out how she knew so much about him, without having to see her face-to-face. He would plant thoughts in her mind that would make her think of her book, why she wrote it, and how she knew what to write, and then he would read her thoughts for the answers. Once he knew how all this happened he would talk to Jareth and decide what to do about it, hopefully before Athena got wind of it. Daire decided that the first thought he would plant in her mind would be for her to remember how she got the idea for the book, and then she would relive it in her mind. That should answer most of my questions, he thought. He sent the thought to her mind and waited for her to relive the memory but her thoughts did not change; she was still admiring the beauty of the ocean. He tried planting the thought again and still nothing. Daire couldn’t understand why it wasn’t working. He could read her thoughts but he couldn’t plant any thoughts into her mind. This had never happened before. No human was capable of blocking a god from planting thoughts and images into their mind; they were simply not strong enough. He decided to wait till she was asleep and enter her dream to get the information that he needed.

Symarah had intended to go to bed after her bubble bath, but she felt too restless to sleep. Standing on her bedroom balcony looking out over the water, she felt calm and content. Watching the ocean always had that effect on her, especially at night. She had always had an urge to be close to the ocean. She decided to take a walk along the beach. One of her favorite things about her home was the long stretch of private beach that ran the length of the back of her property. She put her robe on over her pajamas and headed for the spiral staircase at the far right side of her balcony. At the bottom of the stairs was a long and winding stone path that eventually led to the beach. As she casually strolled along the path toward the beach, she admired the landscaping. Along the stone path were several other paths branching off here and there. Each path led to a secluded area with its own unique theme. Her favorite was the one that led to the fountains.
It was a large rectangular-shaped area surrounded by an eight-foot tall hedge on three sides. Inside this enclosure were several fountains, one of which was a beautiful sculpture of three pure white marble dolphins jumping out of the water; this was her favorite. It was peaceful and at the same time whimsical. There were white marble benches scattered around the area and it was filled with the tranquil sounds of water gently splashing onto the surface of each fountain. This was where she spent the majority of her time. She smiled fondly as she walked past the fountain path and headed down the path that ended on the beach. As she followed the path through the trees toward the beach she couldn’t stop thinking about Dane. She had dreamt of him again last night, but it was different. This time he was here in Sarasota and he was not alone. There was another vampire with him, tall and impeccably dressed, with an English accent. She had never seen this man before and had no idea who he was. She had never dreamt of Dane being here and in all her other dreams he was hunting some killer halfway across the country. Her dreams had changed so much since that first nightmare of Vaiden. Part of her wished the dreams would go back to the way they were before Vaiden, but another part of her liked the idea of Dane being here, closer to her. She knew it was ridiculous to feel that way about a dream, about someone who didn’t even exist, but she couldn’t help it. She wondered how the dream would go tonight when she went to sleep. Would he still be here in Sarasota, and who is this new vampire? As she strolled along the path toward the beach, she pondered all the possible turns that her dreams could take. Who knows, maybe someday I’ll even dream of him being with me, she thought absently to herself. Just the thought of it made her smile. She continued to daydream as she walked the path under the beautiful oak trees. She loved the eerie vibe the trees gave to the property and it was one of the biggest reasons she chose this house.  As she approached one of the larger Live Oaks on her grounds she suddenly felt someone watching her. She stopped dead in her tracks and looked around, but saw nothing. She listened intently but heard nothing, yet she could still feel someone there. She took a few more steps and then it hit her, it was Dane, she was sure of it. He was there somewhere in the darkness, watching her. Her body tingled with anticipation, thinking of him there in her own back yard watching her. She walked toward the tree, her eyes searching in the darkness, but it was too black to see anything.  Daire stood perfectly still. She was so close now and she knew he was there. He had shielded his presence so that no one would know, how could she sense him? He knew the second she’d sensed him. He could see himself through her mind. His image was foggy and she was still calling him Dane. How can she know so much about my life and still not know my name, he wondered. She was right on the other side of the tree about five feet away. She was searching for him but it was too dark. He knew she wouldn’t see him, she couldn’t. He was using his powers to cloak himself. She took a few steps toward him trying to pinpoint his exact location. As she took another step closer, she stopped just one foot from the tree. Now, standing in the moonlight, its silver beams illuminating her face, he could finally see her clearly.  She took his breath away; five feet, three inches tall, with hair as black as onyx and skin so perfect it was almost unreal. Her complexion was flawless, like a porcelain doll. Her azure blue eyes sparkled in the moonlight and she had the fullest red lips he had ever seen. She was wearing a black satin robe that hung down to her tiny bare feet. She took a few more steps toward the tree. She was so close now he could hear her breathing. Her scent was intoxicating. He could feel her so close to him it was unbearable. He had an almost undeniable urge to reach out to her, caress her silky skin, run his fingers through her long, shiny hair, and press his lips to hers. He longed to taste those full, pouty lips. What is wrong with me? Daire scolded himself. How can I have such strong urges for a woman I’ve never met?

Symarah put her hand on the huge oak. She could feel him here but she saw nothing. She saw him clearly now in her mind’s eye. He was the hottest guy she had ever seen. She wanted him, wanted to feel his touch on her skin. She pressed her back against the tree and closed her eyes. Images filled her mind; she imagined what it would be like to feel his touch. She pictured him there in front of her as she leaned against the huge oak tree, pictured him caressing her face, his hard, lean body pressed against hers. She imagined him leaning down to kiss her, pressing his lips softly against hers, gently at first but then more forcefully as his tongue made its way into her mouth. She moaned out loud at the thought of this imaginary kiss. What is wrong with me, she scolded herself, as she came crashing back to reality. Falling for a man who only exists in my dreams. I must have had way too much to drink at that launch party she laughed. He isn’t here, she told herself. Of course he’s not here, he doesn’t exist. You need a boyfriend Sym, she thought, as she walked back to the path and headed for the beach.  Daire heaved a sigh of relief as Symarah walked away. What the hell is going on here, he thought, how could she have known I was here? He didn’t understand any of this. Why was he so drawn to her, and what the hell was that imaginary kiss of hers? He saw the whole thing play out in her mind but what’s more, he felt the whole thing as if it were really happening. He could still feel her body against his own, her breasts pressed against
his chest. He felt her soft lips on his as she imagined him kissing her. It was the most amazing kiss he had ever experienced and it wasn’t even real. He could still taste it even now, sweet like the taste of a strawberry. He decided not to follow her until he knew more about the power she had over him. It was far too risky to be this close to her. He needed to talk to Jareth about the situation. He turned and headed for the front gate. He decided to walk back instead of using his powers to flash himself home. He needed time to clear his head; besides, he was still hard as a rock, and explaining his raging hard-on to Jareth was the last thing he wanted to do right now. He could still feel her as he walked through the front gate, but that would fade with enough distance put between him and this Symarah Stratford.